Crane platform



Dec. 5, 1944. B. ULINSKI 2,364,493

CRANE PLATFORM Filed Feb. 17, 1943 5 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORN EY B. ULINSKI CRANE PLATFORM Dec. 5, 1 944.

Filed Feb. 17, 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTRNEY Dec. 5, 1944. B, UUNSK. 2,364,493

CRANE-PLATFORM Filed Feb. 17, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR M BY $3 ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 5, 1944 CRANE PLATFORM BronislausUllnski, Chicago, 111., assignor to The Yale & Towne Manufacturing Company, Stamford, Conn, a corporation of Connecticut Application February 17, 1943, Serial No. 476,153

8 Claims.

This invention relates to a platform of the skid or pallet type adapted for cooperation with an industrial lift truck.

Those skilled in the art are fully aware of the extensive use of skids and pallets in th supporting of loads to be moved by industrial lifting trucks. Thus, aload is usually deposited on a skid or pallet, and the lifting portion of an industrial truck is then placed under the floor of the skid, or between the floors of the pallet. Thereafter the skid or pallet is lifted with the load as the lifting portion of the truck is elevated.

There are certain types of loads that are so positioned or must be so deposited, or are so formed, asto make it diflicult for those loads to beplaced on a skid platform for handlingin the usual manner that I have herein briefly outlined. In this class are loads that are best handled by cranes through lifting cables and lifting hooks. In those industrial plants where a considerable number of such loads are to be handled,

I have thus described generally the several more important features of m invention in order that the construction of my invention hereinafter set it is frequently economical to purchase and use I a crane truck. In most plants it is not economical to have available a crane truck, and it is therefore extremely difficult in such plants to handle loads of the particular class indicated.

My invention relates to a type of pallet or skid that is constructed to handle loads of the type best handled by a crane. As one feature of my invention through which the several desirable results required thereof are obtained, a crane is mounted for pivotal movement on a support that is integral 'with a skid or pallet so that as the skid or pallet is elevated by a lift truck the crane will be elevated as though it were part of the lift truck per se. I

As a further feature of my invention the crane is adapted for pivotal movement under the influence of the load, and as still a further important feature of my invention this pivotal movement will bring about a counterbalancing of the'load carried by the crane whereby to relieve the supporting pallet and the lift truck itself, of'those forces tending to tip the pallet and truck.

Asstill a further feature of my invention, there are means for measuring the amount Of movement required to counterbalance the load and thereby to indicate the weight of the load. As still a further feature of my invention, the crane andits counterbalancing mechanism are all rotatable relatively to the ;allet whereby to bring the load into a better position for transportation by the truck.

forth indetail may be better understood. Naturally, there are certain additional features that I have not thus far described but which will be presented in the specification that follows, and which will be claimed in the claims appended hereto.

Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that my invention is a very broad and important one, and that the claims to be granted me should be of such nature as to prevent the utilization of my invention by others in specific forms different from the particular form I shall herein describe.

Referring now to the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a vertical view showing a pallet embodying my invention and with the lifting forks of a lift truck positioned between the floors of the pallet. 1

Fig. 2 shows the parts of Fig. 1 with the load elevated somewhat and with the crane moved on its pivot to counterbalance the load.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of certain of the parts of Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig. 4 is an end view of the crane and pallet assembly looking towards that assembly from the left in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 illustrates the means whereby the crane is rotatable relatively to the pallet and may be locked in any one of its rotated positions.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings. and especially Figs. 1, 2 and 4, I show my invention applied to a platform of the pallet type as distinguished from the skid type. Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that my invention is applicable to a skid if that may be desirable. The upper floor of the pallet is designated by eference numeral III while the lower floor is designated by reference numeral I l The floors are held in spaced assembled relation by a series of spacer members l2, l3 and I4 that are welded to the upper and lower floors in a standard manner. Extending between the floors I0 and II is a tubular reinforcing member I5 that is welded to the said floors as shown in the drawings. The

tubular member l5 protrudes upwardly and into,

a tubular standard ii that extends upwardly from the floor it) of the pallet. For holding the.

standard IS in proper relation to the pallet, I employ a channel member I! that is welded to the standard and the pallet floor I0, and a pair of gusset plates l8 and i9 also welded to the standard I6 as well as to the channel member I! as will be quite apparent from the drawings.

It may be well to indicate that the manner in which the parts are constructed and the method of fabrication and material used, are of no particular importance as my invention relates to the general combination I disclose rather than to the mechanical construction of the parts.

Rotatably mounted on the standard It is what I call a crane support 20. This crane support is hollow, as best illustrated in Fig. 5 and is adapted for mounting on the upper end of the standard l6 and for rotation relatively to that standard through an upper bearing 2| and a lower bearing 22. The threaded cap 23 is adapted for insertion on the internal thread 24 of the support 20, and cooperates with the outer race 2 la of the bearing 2|, it being apparent that in this manner the vertical thrust of the crane support is accepted by the standard Hi.

The crane support 20 has an abutment 25 formed thereon and in this abutment is mounted for sliding movement a plunger 26 to the upper end of which is secured a button 21. A spring 28 tends to project the head 29 of the plunger 28 into a hole 30 in a disk 3| welded to the standard l6. As may readily be seen from Fig. 3 there are several of these holes 30 so that the crane support 2|! may be locked in any one of a series of different rotated positions relatively to the standard l6 and the pallet to which the standard is welded.

The crane is designated generally by reference numeral 35, and is best shown in Figs. 4 and 5 as pivoted relatively to the crane support 20 on a shaft 36, the said shaft being mounted in ears 3! of the crane support 20 and extending into bores 38 of the arms 39 of the crane 35. To each of the arms 39 there is secured through bolts 40 a bracket 4| formed integrally with a counter weight 42. The opposite ends of the arms 39 of the crane 35 are connected by a bolt 43 that sup ports a load hook 44.

As is quite apparent from Fig. 1, the load hook 44 may, through a cable 45 and a further hook 46, engage a suitable cable 41 for lifting a load 48. With the parts in the particular position indicated, the forks 49 or other similarly acting parts of an industrial truck T may be inserted under the upper floor ll! of the pallet and then elevated from the position of Fig. 1 to the position of Fig. 2. The load 48 will of course then be elevated also to the position shown in Fig. 2. It will be noted that with the load elevated as shown in Fig. 2, the crane 35 has moved pivotally about the shaft 36 so as to bring the pair of counterbalancing weights 42 into counterbalancing position. It will now be readily appreciated that any tendency for the load 48 to tilt the truck and the pallet has been fully overcome by the movement of the counterbalancing weights 42.

It will also be readily appreciated that by withdrawing the head 29 of the plunger 28 from the particular hole 30 in which it is fitted in Fig. 2, the crane support 28 may be rotated to bring the crane and the load into a different position relatively to the lifting truck, and when in that different position the load will remain balanced for movement with the truck.

As a feature of my invention, the weight of the load may be readily determined by mounting a scale 50 on the crane support 20, and placing an indicator 5| on one of the arms 39 of the crane. It is obvious that when the crane moves from the position of Fig. 1 to the position of Fig. 2, the indicator finger 5| will move relatively to the dial 50 a distance proportionate to the weight of the load 48, thereby making it possible to determine the load.

I believe that the construction and operation of my invention and its great utility in the art will now be clearly understood.

I now claim:

1. In a platform of the class described, a frame structure into which is adapted to enter the lifting mechanism of an industrial truck for lifting said frame structure, a crane support extending vertically from said frame structure, a crane pivoted relatively to said crane support on a horizontal pivot carried by said crane support and having a load supporting arm at one side of its pivot relatively to said crane support, and a counterbalancing weight secured to said crane at the other side of its pivot relatively to said crane support for counterbalancing a load on said load supporting arm.

2. In a platform of the class described, a frame structure into which is adapted to enter the lifting mechanism of an industrial truck for lifting said frame structure, a crane support extending vertically from said frame structure, a crane pivoted relatively to said crane support on a horizontal pivot carried by said crane support and having a load supporting arm at one side of its pivot relatively to said crane support, and a counterbalancing weight secured to said crane at the other side of its pivot relatively to said crane support for counterbalancing a load on saidload supporting arm, said crane pivoting freely on said pivot until the load and counterbalancing weight are brought into balance.

3. In a platform of the class described, a frame structure into which is adapted to enter the lifting mechanism of an industrial truck for lifting said frame structure, a standard extending vertically from said frame structure, a crane support mounted on said standard for rotation on a vertical axis, and a crane pivoted relatively to said crane support on a horizontal pivot carried by said crane support.

4. In a platform of the class described, a frame structure into which is adapted to enter the lifting mechanism of an industrial truck for lifting said frame structure, a standard extending vertically from said frame structure, a crane support mounted on said standard for rotation on a vertical axis, a crane pivoted relatively to said crane support on a horizontal pivot carried by said crane support and having a load supporting arm at one side of its pivot relatively to said crane support, and a counterbalancing weight secured to said crane at the other side of its pivot relatively to said crane support for counterbalancing a load on said load supporting arm.

5. In a platform of the class described, a frame structure into which is adapted to enter the lifting mechanism of an industrial truck for lifting said frame structure, a standard extending vertically from said frame structure, a crane support mounted on said standard for rotation on a ver- 'tical axis, a crane pivoted relatively to said crane support on a horizontal pivot carried by said crane support and having a load supporting arm at one side of its pivot relatively to said crane support, and a counterbalancing weight secured to said crane at the other side of its pivot relatively to said crane support for counterbalancing a load on said load supporting arm, said crane pivoting freely on said pivot until the load and counterbalancing weight are brought into balance.

structure into which is adapted to enter the lift-- ing mechanism of an industrial truck for lifting said .frame structure, a crane support extending vertically from said frame structure, a crane pivoted relatively to said crane support on a horizontal pivot carried by said crane support and having a load supporting arm at one side of its pivot relatively to said crane support, a counterbalancing weight secured to said crane at the other side of its pivot relatively to said crane support for counterbalancing a load on said load supporting arm, said crane pivoting freely on said pivot until the load and counterbalancing weight are brought into balance, and means for indicating the amount of pivotal movement of said crane required to bring said crane into balance.

8. In a platform of the class described, a pair of spaced floors between which is adapted to enter the load lifting portion of an industrial truck, a standard extending vertically between said floors and upwardly relatively to the upper of said floors, and a crane pivoted relatively to said standard about a horizontal pivot carried by said standard.

BRONISLAUS U'LINSKI. 

